


Wayfarer

by AXEe



Category: Original Work
Genre: Alternate future history, Gen, Ocean Adventures, Submarines
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-23
Updated: 2017-04-23
Packaged: 2018-10-22 21:12:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,822
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10705218
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AXEe/pseuds/AXEe
Summary: It's the year 2040, humankind has colonized the last unexplored region on Earth.  The oceans.  The flagship of the 'United Oceans'--the successor to the United Nations--the ‘United Oceans Deep Submergence Vehicle (UODSV)Wayfarer’ is undergoing the finishing touches on an extensive refit.Having served with distinction during the recent 'Andaman Sea War', the Wayfarer is one of the largest submarines ever built.Once the refit is completed the nine hundred and eighteen foot longWayfarerwill no longer be a strictly military vessel but act as a primarily peacekeeping and research vessel, with the mission to explore the deepest depths of the oceans and protect those to live beneath the waves.Whenever raiders attack an undersea colony, whenever a cargo ship carrying dangerous cargo signals for help,Wayfarerwill be the first, the only ship, needed to answer the call.All that’s missing it’s theWayfarer’snew captain…





	1. Prolouge: To the Sea

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! More original fiction from me! Please enjoy and let me know what you thought :=)

The near-future

Humanity has colonized the so-called ‘Great Frontier’, the last unexplored region on Earth…

The oceans…

Following the Apollo 11 Moon Landing, scientists around the world realized that future technologies that could be eventually be applied to space travel could be tested beneath world’s oceans, but once the first primitive undersea colonies went online they realized that the wealth of resources the oceans had to offer far outweighed some of those that could be found in space. Food, oil, and living space, just to name a few, were all available and much more accessible than out in space.

Soon R&D money that was originally slated for the world’s space programs was being channeled into colonizing and exploring the oceans, starting a technological gold rush.

In 1971, after only three years of study and design, the first practical cold fusion reactor station went online in Kyoto, Japan, paving the way for a clean, reliable energy source; the 1970s would soon come to be known as the ‘Golden Age of Science’.

In 1981 the world’s first true undersea ‘community’, ‘New Atlantis Colony’, is brought online. Located in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, New Atlantis’ population would soon swell from thirty to over two hundred. Soon technological progress was advancing faster than it can be regulated, starting a decade that would later come to be known as the ‘Dark Age of Science’, which would end in the creation of new life, in the form of an entirely new, sentient species.

In 1990 a political coup rocked China as nationalistic, xenophobic hardliners that opposed China’s good relations with the West take control of the government, forcing the Chinese President to flee to the United States and establish a government in exile as China becomes divided along three fronts, a pro-communist front (Red China), a pro-democracy front (Blue China), and the current revolutionary government (Grey China).

In 1991 the Soviet Union collapses, ushering civil unrest and war throughout the former Soviet bloc, soon the various conflicts in the former Soviet sphere—particularly the Balkans—began to draw in other nations, putting a strain on the UN and its peacekeeping efforts.

In 1992 North Korea—with sponsorship from Grey China—takes advantage of the distraction caused by the wars in Balkans and China to detonate a nuclear device on the 38th Parallel of the Korean Peninsula while China almost simultaneously invades Taiwan.

A U.S.-backed coalition composed primarily of the United States, Vietnam, Japan, South Korea, and Thailand swiftly retaliates, facing off against a ‘Chinese Hegemony’ led by Grey China and composed primarily of North Korea, a revived version of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia sponsored by Grey China, and Occupied Taiwan, signaling the start of the ‘Sino-Pacific War’ otherwise known as ‘World War III’. The war would rage for seven more years, from 1992 to 1999, and would be fought primarily on—and under—the seas.

In 1999, the Sino-Pacific War ended with the signing of the 'Treaty of Chicago'; the war put a strain on geopolitics, resulting in a complete redrawing of the world map, some nations joined together to form new nations, other nations broke apart with the now-independent pieces forming new nations. North Korea’s territory was dissolved and absorbed into South Korea forming the ‘United Republic of Korea’, the People’s Republic of China was restored, but Tibet was granted its independence as a sovereign nation.

Taiwan was reformed into a new nation separate from China in both name and spirit, Ireland formed the ‘Celtic Union’ along with Brittany, Normandy, the Isle of Man, the Isle of Wright, and the Channel Islands. The United States, Canada, and Mexico joined together to form the ‘North American Confederation’.

All of these new nations, alliances, and political unions were too much for the already-strained resources of the United Nations, and in 2000 the UN officially dissolved, with NATO following less than a year later.

In the wake of the collapse of both the UN and NATO, France, the United Kingdom, and Japan have emerged as the world’s three new superpowers, creating two new power blocs, the ‘North Sea Union’ (‘NSU’) and the ‘Southeast Asian Coalition’ or ‘SEACO’. It is these two power blocs that created the United Nations successor organization, the ‘United Oceans’, an oceanic version of the United Nations, but possessing a united military and economy, essentially creating the first true ‘world government’.

On September 11th 2001, terrorists destroyed the World Trade Center in New York City, signaling the start of another war, the ‘War on Terror’, however this conflict remained as largely nothing more than a small footnote on the international news, as nations restarted ocean colonization efforts with a vengeance, under the auspices of the United Oceans.

By the year 2040, the United Oceans had firmly established itself as the first true 'world government', having its own currency, army, air force, and, of course, navy. Leading the way was the UO's flagship, the ‘United Oceans Deep Submergence Vehicle (UODSV) _Wayfarer_ ’, with the mission to explore the deepest depths of the oceans and protect those to live beneath the waves.

This is the story of the _Wayfarer_ and its crew...


	2. Launch

******

**New Alcatraz Colony**  
**San Francisco Island, California**  
**United States of America, North American Confederation**

Claudette St. Georges glanced around the crowded deck, watching as people hurried to and forth around her. Sipping her coffee, the French Polynesian-born woman shook her head, wondering just _where_ everybody was in a rush to. She looked back down at the tablet PC in her hands

> To: Claudette St. Georges, Captain, Seaforce, United Oceans Navy  
>  From: UO Naval Command  
>  Re: New assignment
> 
> Captain St. Gegorges, you are hereby assigned to command of UO Deep Submergence Vehicle Wayfarer (Waverider-class ADSV). Report for duty at New Alcatraz Colony, San Francisco, USA, NAC, on 12th of November 2040, 12:00 Pacific Standard Time. Upon arrival at New Alcatraz you will receive orders and assume command of UODSV Wayfarer

Sighing, Claudette downed the rest of her coffee and stood up, straightening her uniform as she made her way to the berth. She was the youngest person to archive the rank of captain in the UO Navy and she was being command of the flagship as her first command, to say she was nervous was the understatement of the century

******

**UODSV _Wayfarer_ berth**

Passing through the request checkpoints, Claudette soon found herself walking on to the _Wayfarer_ itself. Although bustling with work crews finishing the refitting of the ship, the massive submarine was largely empty, the corridors eerily silent as she made her way to the CIC. Born and raised on the undersea colony of Liberte in French Polynesia, Claudette was a ‘sea strider’, part of a generation of people who had been born underwater in one of the thousands of undersea habitats that dotted the ocean floors. Born after the Sino-Pacific War, she was one of many who had been raised in a post-war golden age, where the newly-formed United Oceans promised peace and prosperity both above and below the sea.

Entering the UO Naval Academy at minimum age of seventeen, Claudette quickly rose through the ranks, displaying a high-degree of skill and leadership abilities, as well as the ability to think outside the box, an ability that served her well when the Andaman Sea War broke out between the UO and a loss alliance of pirates and raiders in the Andaman Sea.

Entering the CIC, Claudette took a breath as she examined the scope of the large, vaguely dome-shaped room. Spanning three levels, she stood on the upper most level, the command area, where the captain and the rest of the senior staff were, the next level—directly below the first—was where other ship’s operations were held, followed by the bottom level, which was on the deck itself, where the helm was positioned. Dominating the entire front half of the room was a massive screen which could display hyper-sonar readings, maps, the ship’s position relative to another ship, and everything the crew needed to know, currently it was displaying the status of the refit.

Turning, Claudette passed a small, recessed area where a small table and ten chairs sat, a small briefing for the senior staff to hold meetings or other discussions, at the moment a young Asian woman sat at the table, frowning as Claudette moved closer

“Hello?” the woman called out in a noticeable Australian accent

“Hello” Claudette called back in English

“Oh, I’m sorry,” the woman apologized, and Claudette could see she was wearing a lieutenant’s strips “I didn’t know anyone else was here” she turned towards Claudette and Claudette tried not to gasp, the young woman’s eyes were clouded over with a strange, bright yellow film, making them seem to glow almost

“Forgive me,” Claudette began “but, your eyes…”

“Oh,” the woman smiled “sorry, I have Moscowitz Syndrome, also known as ‘cat’s eye syndrome’,” she explained “basically it’s just a fancy way of saying I’m blind,” she explained, she held out her hand “I’m Lieutenant Madeline Huang-Bannck”

“Captain Claudette St. Georges”

“Oh,” Lt. Huang-Bannik straightened up at attention “sorry, if I’d known it was you, ma’am, I’d of saluted”

“Its fine,” Claudette dismissed “so, tell me, Lieutenant, what’s your position here on the _Wayfarer_?”

“Actually, Captain, I’m your helmsman”

Claudette blinked

“You’re…the helmsman?” she asked, hoping her voice didn’t betray her unease

“Oh, don’t let the blindness fool you, Captain,” a new voice said “Maddie here is the best helmsman in the entire fleet,” Claudette turned to see another woman enter the room behind here, she held herself like a solider, and her rank insignia indicated that she was a lieutenant commander, but what was most striking was her skin, which seemed to be a patchwork of different skin tones, ranging from a Caucasian-like fairness, to a deep ebony, all of which covered her from head to (presumably) toe in patches of different sizes and shapes, resembling a bizarre form of camouflage. The multicolored woman held out a hand “Lt. Cmdr Aurora Darwin, Second Officer and chief of security for the _Wayfarer_ , ma’am” she introduced herself

“Captain St. Georges,” Claudette replied, she frowned at the woman “forgive me, but, you’re a GELF, aren’t you?”

“I’m a Testie, yes,” Lt. Cmdr. Darwin answered, a distinct note of aggravation in her voice “born out of a test tube just like everyone else on New Liberty Island”

“You’ll have to forgive the commander, ma’am,” Lt. Huang-Bannck spoke up “she’s a bit sensitive about that”

“I assure you, Commander, I didn’t intend to offend you” Claudette assured her, Commander Darwin smiled and dipped her head

“I apologize, ma’am. Sometimes this Testie _gets_ a little testy”

“So,” Claudette began “where is my XO?”

“Commander Malequl is still ashore, ma’am,” Commander Darwin explained “in fact I was coming to tell you”

“Well then, would you care to join me in retrieving him, Commander?” Claudette asked, Commander Darwin smirked

“Gladly, ma’am”


End file.
